Men's Golf

Opening Round 314 Sinks Matadors to 10th at USD Callaway Invitational

Feb 08, 2010

Feb. 8, 2010

RANCH SANTA FE, Calif. -
The Cal State Northridge men's golf team bounced back from a disastrous opening round 314 to fire a second round 298 and move up two spots to 10th after two rounds of the USD Callaway Invitational at the Farms G.C.

The Matadors were last in the 12-team field after one round but posted a 16-stroke improvement in the second round to finish Monday's two rounds in the top-10. SMU (293-282--575) leads the team competition with a six shots ahead of both San Diego (581) and Fresno State (581). Northridge (612) is five shots behind ninth-place UC Santa Barbara.

Individually, junior Nick Delio is looking for his third top-20 finish of the season (to go with three top-10 finishes) as he is tied for 16th at (+3) 147 after rounds of 74-73. Delio's second round 73 was the closest a Northridge golfer came to shooting par or better on Monday.

Senior Jeff Freund is next as he is tied for 39th at (+9) 153. Freund opened with a 79 but bounced back with a (+2) 74 in the afternoon round.

The Matadors remaining three players could not crack the top-50 as Chris Russo is tied for 55th at (+13) 157 after rounds of 80-77, Davis Kirkland is tied for 60th at (+15) 159 after rounds of 85-74 and Jason Rosenkranz is 65th at (+17) 161 after rounds of 81-80.

SMU's Matt Schovee is the clubhouse leader at (-6) 138 and holds a slim lead over Fresno State's Bhavik Pael (-5) 139 and San Diego State's Tom Berry (-4) 140.

The third and final round of competition will begin at 8:00 a.m. with groups teeing off on holes No.1 and No. 10.